Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Monday 1 November 1999

Scottish Executive

Employment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out in detail how the quantitative surveys into New Deal participants will evaluate and analyse the scheme.

Henry McLeish: Employment Policy is reserved to the UK Government which, therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of the New Deal throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive. Many partner organisations at local level also provide New Deal Services under contract or provide funds and other resources, including training funds to enhance the quality of New Deal in their areas.

  A Scottish survey of individuals entering New Deal is being carried out to boost the sample of a GB wide survey and enable fuller analysis at a Scottish level.

  The results of the first stage of the Scottish quantitative survey will be available early next year. This will give information on individual characteristics, previous work history and New Deal experience: what clients have done in New Deal, their feelings about New Deal and their destinations after New Deal.

  The GB survey is now proceeding to the second Stage. This will consist of follow up interviews to explore experience of New Deal, labour market outcomes, job search, attitudes, and changes in employability.

  A decision will be made as to whether the Scottish survey will proceed to stage two depending on the outcome of the first stage work.

Employment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the major quantitative survey of New Deal participants in Scotland was commissioned.

Henry McLeish: Employment Policy is reserved to the UK Government which, therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of the New Deal throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive. Many partner organisations at local level also provide New Deal Services under contract or provide funds and other resources, including training funds to enhance the quality of New Deal in their areas.

  The initial phase of the booster survey of New Deal participants in Scotland was commissioned in June 1999.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make Local Enterprise Companies accountable to the Parliament for their actions.

Henry McLeish: Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) are contracted by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to deliver economic development and training services and are already accountable through their parent organisations to Scottish Ministers who are accountable to Parliament.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of open cast developments by Local Enterprise Company area.

Henry McLeish: This information is not held centrally. Local authorities, as planning authorities, would hold this information for each authority area.

Finance

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will re-examine the formulae used to calculate grant aided expenditure to local authorities in order to take the needs of rural and remote communities into account.

Mr Jack McConnell: Adjustments are already made to the distribution of Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allowances for a number of council services to acknowledge the additional costs of serving rural and remote communities. These adjustments were the subject of an extensive review last year, which confirmed these additional costs and recommended a number of alternative adjustments to improve the distribution. We have agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that these changes should be implemented from next year.

  The distribution of the GAE allowances between councils is kept under annual review through regular consultation between the Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

Parliamentary Questions

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has given holding replies to written parliamentary questions and what percentage of the written parliamentary questions which it has been asked this represents.

Donald Dewar: Holding replies have been issued on 956 occasions, which represents 42% of 2,271 written questions tabled to date.

  The Executive aims to give a substantive answer within 14 days where possible and wishes to improve on present performance, but the pressure from increased use of parliamentary questions by this Parliament has been very real.

Parliamentary Questions

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the average length of time it takes to provide a substantive reply to written parliamentary questions after the issue of a holding reply.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is, as a matter of policy, taking steps to reduce the proportion of written parliamentary questions which receive a holding reply.

Donald Dewar: I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-2044.

Transport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1209 by Sarah Boyack on 13 September 1999, whether it has any development plans for the A71 and, if so, what they are.

Sarah Boyack: The A71 is a local rather than a trunk road and as such any development plans are entirely a matter for the local authorities concerned.